Sunday, 15 January 2012

Happy Summer Days

"Time slows at the Summer House. The pile of books you have set aside for Summer reading awaits leisure time in the hammock. The days begin and end in long shadows and quiet anticipation." - Terry John Woods

Our Summer holiday was perfect in every single way. We spent most days here at this beautiful beach swimming and playing in the sand.

We found lots of fabulous shells. Harry's friend B found the big creamy coloured shell in the photo above.

Harry was obsessed with snorkeling in the big rock pools and looking for treasure.

And treasure he found. He stumbled across this fabulous big old shell in one of the rock pools which he and his father snorkeled over the top of at high tide. It now sits proudly on our sideboard at the beach house amongst all the other shells they have found over the years.

Ned our Golden Retriever spent every minute he possible could on the beach and if he wasn't swimming or running he could be found resting in the shade under the umbrella.

You couldn't wipe the smile from his face. I am unsure who was the most depressed today coming home...Ned or Harry or Max or Brad...actually I think I was the most sad about leaving the beach.

Although most of our holiday was spent at Straddie we did manage to spend a few days down at my cousin's beach house at South Golden Beach just north of Byron. Whilst there we visited the Easton Pearson pop-up shop and my cousin reminded me of the pop-up shop I opened about 12 years ago over at Straddie for the Summer. It was called Holiday Things and I had totally forgotten about it until he reminded me of it. Pop-up shops seem to be all the rage these days but 12 years ago nobody had really ever done it before....well around our part of the world anyway!! Did anyone go to Easton Pearson's pop-up store in Byron or Noosa? I absolutely loved the beach umbrella they had and if they were for sale I definitely would have bought one!!

Happy times were had. There were lots of laughs and lots of cuddles and I cherished every single moment I had with them. As Harry said when we drove off the barge this afternoon - "it's now back to the real world mum..."

Lovely to see you back, but i fully understand your sadness... it's never easy to leave a wonderful vacation spot! BUT think of all the wonderful days spent with your family!! Shell image is GREAT!! Shelling is so much fun, we just don't have those big shells available here in Florida :)Welcome Back!

My children are all grown now but your post reminded me of a lovely beach holiday we spent with them at Forster on the NSW coast when they were little. As the years past we were lucky enough to live all over the world due to my husband's work and to travel to many different lands for holidays with the children but my firm favourite was those two weeks of swimming at a gorgeous beach similar to the one in your photo, bbq-ing with friends in the evening while the children ran wild, strolling to the milk bar for an ice cream...just the most wonderful simple pleasures.Thank you for taking me away from the sometimes stressful moments of raising teenagers/young adults and reminding me of such a lovely time when they were small.Lynne

As it is the 1st day back from holiday's for me today .. I must agree with Harry re: 'back to the real world'. But, the real world sucks bigtime today as my little family are all down at the beach catching big waves no doubt, and I am working. Blah.

Oh, and we too collect shells each time we go to the beach .. and heart shaped rocks (of which we have lots).

Anna, you really need to be careful about how many people you tell how amazing straddie is! We can't let the secret out!it is another world over there - the best world! good thing you weren't there this week in the rain!

I established this blog in 2006 so that I could record my inspirations, my thoughts and my work as an Interior Designer. Based in Brisbane, Australia, my store Black & Spiro is always filled with a unique collection of interesting things which we scour the globe to find. I am most passionate about my family, my career, tradition, collecting, flowers, fabric, gardening, colour and quality and I will always strive to be creative and extraordinary in everything I do. I hope I can inspire you to live a bright and colourful life surrounded by the things you love.